Seniors Will Find Benefits on Websites
 Many seniors probably still don't know how to turn on a computer, however, those who surf the internet can now find out how to sign up for federal and state assistance programs which will have many advantages.
According to the National Council on the Aging (NCOA), there is a new website designed to help seniors, their families and caregivers find benefits to meet their needs - BenefitsCheckUp.org. With the help from AOL Time Warner, Lucent Technologies, New York Life and the Merck Company Foundation, NCOA created this website.
One of its many features includes its free and confidential screening tool. This feature determines eligibility for nearly 1,000 assistance programs nationwide. It also provides detailed instructions on how to apply for them. To gather the diverse benefit information, it took the companies approximately two years to work with all 50 states.
NCOA President James Firman says, "Every day, millions of seniors are missing out on benefits programs that can provide help with health care, transportation, income support, meals, and many other important needs. Now finding out what programs you qualify for and how to take advantage of them is available to anyone, anytime, anywhere.'
On BenefitsCheckUp, seniors or their family members have the opportunity to complete a feedback form that compares their individual data to eligibility necessities for federal program such as Social Security, food stamps, or Medicaid.
More than 70 percent of older Americans now go online to search for information for themselves and for their families, according to AOL. Kathy Bushkin, president of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, says, "Today, older Americans are logging on to the internet to keep in touch with friends and family and to find valuable information and resources.'
Top 10 benefits seniors are missing:
NCOA says that three million eligible elderly Americans don't receive Medicaid and another 3.7 million are eligible for food stamps, but don't get them, probably because they don't know how. Here are ten most common benefits that seniors don't get:
- Medicaid
- Nutrition services
- Pharmacy assistance
- Property tax relief
- Health insurance counseling
- Food Stamps
- Weatherization
- Veteran's benefits
- State veterans benefits
- Supplemental security income
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